ETERNAL

March 20 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• ZOMATO - MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS APPROVES CHANGE IN NAME OF CO TO ETERNAL

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By Praveen Paramasivam

CHENNAI, March 14 (Reuters) - India's southern state of Tamil Nadu will offer a subsidy of 20,000 rupees ($230) to select gig workers to buy e-scooters, a minister said on Friday, as more young people sign up with online platforms to deliver food and groceries.

Gig workers, or those outside traditional employer-employee relationships, are set to play a key role in the world's fifth-biggest economy, spurred partly by high unemployment after COVID-19 pandemic curbs fuelled growth in the sector.

Tamil Nadu is also introducing an insurance scheme for nearly 150,000 gig workers to compensate for accidental deaths and disability, its finance minister, Thangam Thenarasu, said while unveiling the budget.

"A new scheme will be launched .... to provide a subsidy of 20,000 rupees each to 2,000 internet-based service workers to buy a new e-scooter," the minister said, adding that workers registered with a state welfare body would be eligible.

Further details of the scheme will be revealed later, Labour Secretary Veera Raghava Rao told Reuters.

The prices of electric scooter maker Ola's products start at 79,999 rupees, while those of rival Ather sell from 99,999 rupees.

The state will also set up lounges for the use of such workers in large cities, such as Chennai, its capital - where summer temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees F) - and Coimbatore, a textile hub.

The head of the Tamil Nadu Food and Allied Products Delivery Workers Union, K.C. Gopikumar, welcomed the subsidy and welfare efforts but urged the government to extend them to more workers as well as give them better conditions, such as paid leave.

Swiggy and Zomato, two of India's biggest delivery providers, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

($1=86.9080 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, March 6 (Reuters) - Indian consumer products distributors have filed an antitrust case against big fast-delivery businesses of Zomato, Swiggy and Zepto, calling for an investigation into alleged deep discounting practices, legal papers show.

India's e-commerce sector has faced intense scrutiny over how products are priced online. An antitrust investigation last year found Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart favour select sellers and resorted to "predatory pricing", which hurts smaller retailers. The companies have denied the allegations.

Quick commerce, in which companies deliver consumer products within 10 minutes from neighbourhood warehouses, is popular with customers but has upset smaller retailers as shoppers use apps to order everything from milk to pulses. Bernstein estimates India's quick commerce sector will reach $35 billion in 2030, from $200 million in 2021.

The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), in a case filing with the Competition Commission of India, has asked for an investigation into many business practices of Zomato's ZOMT.NS Blinkit, Swiggy's SWIG.NS instamart, and Zepto, including how discounts are doled out.

"An alarming trend of predatory pricing and deep discounting practices by Q-commerce platforms resulted in unfair pricing models," said the group's filing, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters.

Zomato and Swiggy did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Zepto declined comment. The CCI did not respond.

The filing could increase headaches for Zomato and Swiggy. A separate CCI investigation last year found their food delivery businesses breached competition laws. The case is ongoing.

Zepto is preparing for an IPO after raising funds at a valuation of $5 billion last year.

The watchdog will review the case filing and can order its investigation unit to look at the matter closely. This can take several months and may require companies to explain their businesses. It can dismiss the case if it finds no merit in it.

AICPDF has 400,000 distributors as members, who supply products of brands such as Nestle NEST.NS, Unilever ULVR.L and Tata to 13 million retail shops across India.

A recent Datum Intelligence survey of 3,000 Indian quick commerce shoppers showed 36% had reduced shopping at supermarkets and 46% cut back purchases from small independent stores.

In its filing, AICPDF said local brick-and-mortar stores "cannot match" the quick commerce giants' discounts. It compared online and offline pricing of 25 products, including of Nestle and Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS.

A variant of a Nescafe coffee jar which a small independent Indian retailer receives from companies for about 622 rupees ($7.14) is offered for 514 rupees on Zepto, 577 rupees on Swiggy Instamart and 625 rupees on Blinkit, according to the filing.

Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is mimicking the strategy to offer fast deliveries, as are Amazon and Flipkart in limited areas.

Datum estimates Blinkit has a 40% market share in India's quick commerce market, with 1,007 small warehouses, while Zepto has more than 900 stores and a 29% market share. Swiggy's Instamart service holds a 26% share.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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By Praveen Paramasivam and Juveria Tabassum

Feb 28 (Reuters) - India's BigBasket is planning to go public in the next 18 to 24 months, its CEO said, as the Tata Group-backed grocery giant seeks to tap surging demand for quick online deliveries of everything from fruits to Apple iPhones.

The company is on track to double its business year-on-year by March 2026 and expand to about 70 Indian cities from 35 currently over the next year, CEO Hari Menon told Reuters on the sidelines of a retail summit in Mumbai. He stopped short of detailing any investment plans.

BigBasket's plans for its listing in India come as the domestic quick commerce industry sees high double-digit sales growth, with rivals such as Swiggy's Instamart and Zomato's Blinkit racing to make the most of red-hot demand for 10-minute deliveries in urban metros.

Zomato ZOMT.NS and recently listed Swiggy SWIG.NS are also increasing their investments to ramp up offerings, open more warehouses and win market share, as the quick commerce industry defies a broader economic slowdown in the country.

"Assortment is the play, in my view," said Menon, whose firm is also expanding its range of products to include electronics, pharmaceuticals and fashion categories.

Quick commerce makes up about 80% of BigBasket's revenue, he said.

The grocery delivery firm, in which Tata Sons [RIC:RIC:TATAS.UL] has a majority stake, is also set to roll out quick food deliveries, Menon said without laying out a timeline, a move that will pit the company against other 10-minute food services such as Zomato's "Bistro", Swiggy's "Bolt" and Zepto's "Zepto Cafe".

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Juveria Tabassum in Mumbai, Writing by Ananta Agarwal; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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Feb 25 (Reuters) - India's booming quick-commerce sector may struggle to maintain its current pace of growth as expansion beyond major cities remains limited and competition from larger e-commerce players intensifies, according to a report by Blume Ventures.

These companies deliver groceries to electronics within minutes and their market share has grown to $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2025 from just $300 million in 2022, the venture capital firm's Indus Valley 2025 report said.

India's "fastest growing industry segment ever", dominated by the likes of Zomato ZOMT.NS-owned Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy SWIG.NS Instamart, logged a 24-fold increase in gross order value (GOV) in the same period, it said.

However, the segment will soon see its monthly transacting user (MTU) growth tapering, much like the country's ride-share, food delivery and e-commerce sectors before, the report warned.

Moreover, the quick-commerce firms face stiff competition from large e-commerce platforms such as Walmart's WMT.N Flipkart, Amazon AMZN.O and Reliance RELI.NS, who are preparing to launch their own quick-commerce operations.

"… while it is not guaranteed they will be able to counter quick-commerce players, the increased competition will have some impact on the industry profit pool," the report said.

Additionally, the expanding sector will likely start to affect the local grocery ecosystem and attract regulatory measures to check its growth, the report said.

Earlier this month, TVS Capital Funds Chairman Gopal Srinivasan in an interview to Reuters said that India's quick-commerce frenzy is a "passing fad" and unsustainable in the long run.

Blume Ventures was one of the earliest backers of crisis-laden quick-commerce firm Dunzo, which is reportedly on the brink of shutdown after a spate of layoffs, founder exits and unpaid vendor dues.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

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Feb 21 (Reuters) - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd BPCL.NS:

• NSE: BPCL AND BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES BEING EXCLUDED FROM NIFTY 50

• NSE: JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES AND ZOMATO BEING INCLUDED IN NIFTY 50

• NSE: CHANGES IN NIFTY 50 STOCKS SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM MARCH 28

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Feb 6 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• CHANGE NAME FROM ZOMATO TO ETERNAL

• ETERNAL WILL COMPRISE FOUR MAJOR BUSINESSES (AS OF NOW) – ZOMATO, BLINKIT, DISTRICT, HYPERPURE

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Adds company statement in paragraph 6, details in paragraphs 7 to 11

Feb 5 (Reuters) - India's Swiggy SWIG.NS reported a wider quarterly loss on Wednesday, as the online platform poured money into its quick commerce business to compete with rivals Zomato ZOMT.NS and Zepto.

The company reported a consolidated loss of 7.99 billion rupees ($91.40 million) for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to a loss of 5.74 billion rupees a year earlier.

Companies such as Swiggy and Zomato are doubling down on quick commerce, aiming to deliver goods ranging from groceries o electronics in 10 minutes or less, by opening more warehouses or so-called "dark stores" to fulfil such orders.

Zomato, which owns Blinkit, plans to double its warehouse count to 2,000 by the end of 2025, while Swiggy has plans to close the financial year with twice as many fulfilment centers for its Instamart business from 523 a year ago.

Swiggy's quarterly expenses jumped about 32% to 48.98 billion rupees.

"Instamart growth ramp-up continues amidst significant investments to expand the (quick delivery) market," the company said in a press release.

The company added 96 new dark stores in the quarter, bringing its total to 705.

The rapid expansion in quick commerce and steady food delivery demand led to its revenue climbing about 31% to 39.93 billion rupees.

Food delivery revenue grew 24%, while quick commerce revenue more than doubled.

Instamart's gross order value - the total monetary value of orders including delivery and packaging charges - rose 88% on higher consumer spending and expansion into new cities.

Meanwhile, the gross order value in its food business grew about 3% sequentially, as per Reuters calculations, led by the launch of a 10-minute delivery service called Bolt, but the growth slowed from the 5.6% increase last quarter.

($1 = 87.4170 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Varun H K)

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Feb 4 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• ZOMATO LTD - RECEIVES FAVORABLE ORDER DROPPING GST DEMAND OF 59.1 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE2p684L

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Updates to add graphic.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India is retreating from a long-term goal to improve its finances. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration on Saturday proposed cuts to levies on personal income to shore up consumption which is growing at its slowest pace in four years. But the move drastically shrinks the taxpayer base and can go only so far in meeting its target.

New Delhi is giving up nearly $12 billion of revenue, or about 3% of its receipts for the year ending in March 2025 by raising the exemption threshold for taxpayers by 83% to 1.28 million rupees ($14,800) per year and reducing rates for people earning up to nearly twice that amount.

That offers relief to a swathe of the middle class whose wages are stagnating; it will halve the share of working-age Indians paying income tax to 1%, per Breakingviews calculations based on data from the government and the International Labour Organization. No wonder shares of carmaker Maruti Suzuki MRTI.NS and food delivery firms Zomato ZOMT.NS and Swiggy SWIG.NS jumped 6% or more during the weekend special trading session.

But it takes India a step back on its journey to widening its tax base. The country’s income-tax to GDP ratio climbed to 6.6%, a 24-year high in the year ended March 2024 on the back of improved collection efficiencies. The U.S. ratio is in double digits, per World Bank data.

India could boost the spending power of a wider group of people and ease inflation if it slashes levies on fuel or cooking gas, but getting the country's 28 provinces to agree to lower revenue from fuel makes that a taller task.

For now, the government is relying on the Reserve Bank of India. Policymakers are pencilling in a higher dividend from the central bank to make up part of its revenue shortfall. They will also expect the RBI to deliver a rate cut to push discretionary spending, although the global trade war unleashed by Washington will make trimming borrowing costs harder.

The core issue of weak incomes is harder to solve. Real average monthly earnings of salaried and self-employed workers in the year ended March 2024 fell below the levels they were at six years ago, with the female self-employed cohort seeing the steepest drop of 32%, per the government's economic survey.

Modi's tax cuts will leave more money in people's pockets, but it's a short-term fix.

CONTEXT NEWS

India will propose cutting personal income tax rates to boost the spending power of the middle-class, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Feb. 1, as she announced the government's annual budget for the financial year to March 2026.

People earning up to 1.28 million rupees ($14,800) a year will not have to pay any taxes, raising the exemption threshold from $8,074. The top tax rate of 30% will apply to annual income above 2.4 million rupees against the current level of 1.5 million rupees. The measures would forego around $11.8 billion in tax revenue, Sitharaman said.

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

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Jan 20 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• ZOMATO - CONSOL ADJUSTED EBITDA DECLINED Q/Q DUE TO ACCELERATED INVESTMENTS IN EXPANDING QUICK COMMERCE STORE NETWORK

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NEW DELHI, Dec 16 (Reuters) - India's GST Council, chaired by the federal finance minister, may lower the tax on food delivery charges by e-commerce operators to 5% from 18%, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing sources.

The potential tax cut, which could take effect from Jan. 1, 2022, would not allow food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy to claim tax credits. This comes as India's tax department ordered Zomato to pay 8.04 billion rupees in taxes and fines for non-payment of certain taxes from 2019 to 2022.

(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri; EDiting by Tasim Zahid)

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Dec 12 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• RECEIVES GST DEMAND ORDER OF 4.02 BILLION RUPEES

• TAX INTEREST, PENALTY OF 4.02 BILLION RUPEES

• DEMAND ORDER HAS BEEN RECEIVED IN RESPECT OF NON- PAYMENT OF GST ON DELIVERY CHARGES

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Dec 3 (Reuters) - Indian food and grocery delivery firm Swiggy SWIG.NS reported a narrower quarterly loss on Tuesday as the newly listed company saw robust order growth in both its food delivery and quick commerce segments.

Swiggy, which made its trading debut on Nov. 13, reported a second-quarter consolidated loss of 6.26 billion rupees ($74 million) compared to a loss of 6.57 billion rupees.

($1 = 84.6520 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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Nov 25 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• LIQUIDATION OF ZOMATO INTERNET LLC

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Nov 22 (Reuters) - BSE Ltd BSEL.NS:

• BSE LTD - BSE SENSEX TO DROP JSW STEEL, ADD ZOMATO FROM DEC 23

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By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The CEO of Indian food delivery giant Zomato ZOMT.NS has stoked a public debate by advertising a chief of staff job with an unusual twist: there will be no salary initially and the position instead comes with a 2 million rupee ($23,700) "fee".

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal sought "down to earth" candidates in social media posts late on Wednesday, saying they must also have "Grade A communication skills" and be willing to help build Zomato, its quick delivery business Blinkit and other verticals.

But the job will have no salary in the first year and require the person to instead pay a $23,700 fee for what the CEO described as an "opportunity" with "10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school".

However, Goyal assured candidates that the chief of staff position will come with an annual salary of at least 5 million rupees ($60,000) from the second year if things work out.

The unusual call garnered both bouquets and brickbats on LinkedIn and X, with some business executives and users saying the move will provide a steep learning curve better than an MBA course, but others criticizing it for creating barriers for ambitious candidates who can't afford the "fee".

"Love the creativity, but it automatically excludes ambitious, hungry folks who don't have that kind of money (middle class)," Deepak Singh, who has previously worked at Walmart's Flipkart, wrote on LinkedIn.

Aparna Mittal, an expert on diversity and inclusion, wrote on the platform: "This looks like a case of the privileged creating *opportunities* for the privileged only."

However, tech programmer Arnav Gupta welcomed the unique job offer: "If you're looking for a career in management consulting/strategy, this is worth waaaay more".

Zomato did not respond to a request for comment on the reactions to his posts, which have garnered more than 5 million views.

Goyal is credited with building Zomato into India's biggest food delivery company which is fast expanding into quick commerce, a shopping rage where groceries are being delivered in 10 minutes. Zomato has seen its share price double this year, valuing the company at more than $28 billion.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Michael Perry)

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By Praveen Paramasivam

CHENNAI, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Indian food delivery major Zomato ZOMT.NS expects its key meal delivery business to grow at an annual rate of 30% over the next five years, a top executive said, hailing the listing of SoftBank-backed peer Swiggy SWIG.NS as a boost for the sector.

Apps delivering everything from grocery to food within minutes have expanded rapidly in the world's most populous country, turbocharged by demand from the affluent and middle class in its large cities.

"The food delivery sector is still in its nascent stages in the country and ... more competition will only foster innovation and growth which will benefit the sector overall," Rakesh Ranjan, Zomato's food delivery CEO, said on Monday.

Swiggy went public in November — more than three years after Zomato hit the bourses — fetching a valuation of $12.1 billion.

In food delivery, Zomato has 58% of the market, compared with Swiggy's 34% share.

Zomato's food delivery business accounts for about 58% of its topline with the gross order value — encompassing food price, platform fees and delivery charges — at 322.24 billion rupees ($3.82 billion) last fiscal year, marking an average annual growth of 30% over the last four years.

Ranjan expects the company to maintain that pace for the next four to five years, "if not more" as he eyes additional growth from the launch of new restaurants.

As of March, Zomato had roughly 247,000 average monthly active restaurant partners on its app, 18% higher than a year earlier.

Zomato has also been rolling out new features, including scheduled delivery, option to grab canceled orders at discounted prices, and a large order fleet that supplies food for gatherings of up to 50 people.

However, "phenomenally high" attrition among delivery drivers is a challenge for the company, which is offering more benefits and flexibility to onboard more gig workers.

($1 = 84.3490 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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Corrects in third paragraph to reflect Prosus’ remaining stake is 25% and worth $2.8 billion, not 24%. The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Nov 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Prosus PRX.AS is receiving a long-awaited parcel of returns in India with the Mumbai listing of Swiggy SWIG.NS. Shares of the company, one half of a food delivery duopoly, opened up 8% on Wednesday, a decent start. However, other bets in the country by the $100 billion Amsterdam-listed vehicle controlled by South Africa's Naspers NPNJn.J may be harder to monetise.

Swiggy had lured some $1.3 billion of funding from Prosus since 2017. It was the largest single outlay among investments worth $8 billion in the country; new CEO Fabricio Bloisi has re-affirmed India's status as one of the Dutch group's “global priority” markets alongside Brazil and Southeast Asia.

On paper, Prosus is doubling its money in Swiggy. It sold shares worth about $510 million in the initial public offering, and its remaining 25% stake in the company is worth $2.8 billion at the top end of the IPO price range. Shares of its only real rival, Zomato ZOMT.NS, surged 105% this year after the company turned profitable; secondary trading may be less impressive for Swiggy both because the company is loss-making and India's buoyant stock market is starting to correct.

Overall, India is proving hard work. In the year to March, Prosus wrote off its nearly 10% stake in education technology firm Byju's, once India’s most valuable startup. That company is battling bankruptcy proceedings at home and in the United States: Founder Byju Raveendran said last month he overestimated the growth potential of his education-technology company which is now "worth zero".

Timing has been an issue too. Prosus' other big portfolio company, the payments and lending firm PayU is emerging from a 15-month regulatory ban on enlisting new merchants. The Reserve Bank of India’s clampdown on unsecured credit over the past year has cooled growth in this hot corner of the financial market.

Elsewhere, competition looms. Prosus owns nearly 12% of Meesho, a profitable e-commerce marketplace for budget shoppers. It became the world’s fastest shopping app to cross 500 million cumulative downloads. There is a constant threat that deep-pocketed giants including Amazon AMZN.O, Walmart-backed WMT.N Flipkart and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries RELI.NS could intrude on its success. Bloisi will find some joy in Swiggy's debut, and he might want to savour it.

Follow @ShritamaBose on X

CONTEXT NEWS

Shares of Swiggy debuted in Mumbai on Nov. 13. Dutch investor Prosus owns 24% of the Indian food delivery company following its initial public offering.

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

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By Aditya Kalra and Arpan Chaturvedi

NEW DELHI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - An investigation by India's antitrust body found food delivery giants Zomato and SoftBank-backed Swiggy SWIG.NS breached competition laws, with their business practices favouring restaurant chains listed on their platforms, documents show.

Zomato ZOMT.NS entered into "exclusivity contracts" with partners in return for lower commissions, while Swiggy guaranteed business growth to certain players if they listed exclusively on its platform, according to non-public documents prepared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Exclusivity arrangements between Swiggy, Zomato and their respective restaurant partners "prevent the market from becoming more competitive," the CCI's investigation arm noted in its findings reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

The CCI documents are not public, in line with its confidentiality rules, and were shared with Swiggy, Zomato and the complainant restaurant groups in March 2024. Their findings have not been previously reported.

Zomato declined to comment, while Swiggy and the CCI did not respond to Reuters queries.

The antitrust investigation against Swiggy and its top rival Zomato began in 2022 after a complaint by National Restaurant Association of India about the impact on food outlets due to anti-competitive practices of the platforms.

Food delivery giants Swiggy and Zomato have in recent years reshaped how Indians order food, as hundreds of thousands of outlets listed on their apps just when smartphone use, and online ordering, both grew rapidly.

Swiggy, which on Friday is closing bids for its $1.4 billion IPO - India's second biggest this year, and Zomato both in recent years also pushed restaurants to maintain a parity on prices, directly reducing competition in the market.

That practice affects restaurants as they cannot offer lower prices on other online platforms, the CCI documents stated.

The next, and final phase, of the CCI case is a decision by the CCI leadership which is still reviewing the investigation findings to decide on any penalty or order changes to Swiggy's and Zomato's business practices.

A final decision could take several weeks, and the companies still have the option of contesting the investigation findings with the CCI.

(Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. Updates to add graphic and refiles to fix echo in third paragraph.

By Anshuman Daga

SINGAPORE, Nov 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Swiggy is living up to its reputation for doing things quickly. The Indian food and grocery delivery company backed by Prosus PRX.AS and SoftBank Group 9984.T will on Wednesday start taking orders for its $1.35 billion Mumbai initial public offering. It's shrugging off the volatility U.S. elections could induce in markets. The timing reflects both the issuer's urgency and the increasing role of domestic investors in the $5 trillion stock market.

There are a couple of reasons to rush. Swiggy's largest rival, publicly traded Zomato ZOMT.NS, is planning to raise up to $1 billion in a secondary equity offering. The $25 billion company is cashing up ahead of an entry by Mukesh Ambani's giant conglomerate Reliance Industries RELI.NS into "quick-commerce", the home delivery of grocery items within 10 minutes or so. What's more, India's economic growth is slowing and consumption signals are starting to flash red.

For its part, Swiggy has scaled back its ambition. Its targeted market value of $10.4 billion at the upper end of the price range is less than the headline figure of its last fundraising round in 2022. And it equates to a multiple of 6.6 times forward sales after annualising revenue during the three months to the end of June, or nearly half the multiple of Zomato. Nonetheless Swiggy's shrinking premium in the grey market - a metric Indian media love to shout about - implies a muted debut when the stock officially debuts around Nov. 13.

Issuers can at least rely on a local cushion. Indians continue to pump their savings into the market at a time overseas investors are cashing out: foreigners sold a monthly record $11 billion of stock in October, taking the Nifty 50 .NSEI benchmark down 6%, though companies still trade on average at a punchy 24 times forward earnings. The downward drag would have been greater in the past. Foreign ownership of stocks at 17.5% is near a 12-year low, according to data provider Primeinfobase. That makes the timing of Swiggy's share sale look slightly less bold.

CONTEXT NEWS

Indian food and grocery delivery company Swiggy will on Nov. 6 start accepting orders from retail investors for shares in its initial public offering.

The Prosus and SoftBank-backed company is seeking to raise up to $1.35 billion at a valuation of up to $10.4 billion at the upper end of the marketed price range, per a term sheet seen by Breakingviews.

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

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[email protected]))

By Dhwani Pandya and Aditya Kalra

NAVI MUMBAI, India, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani is mimicking the strategy of popular Indian grocery startups to drastically change how his retail empire operates: from home deliveries that can take a day or two, his business is now targeting a 10-30 minute service.

Quick commerce has reshaped how Indians shop as Zomato, SoftBank-backed Swiggy and Zepto now promise deliveries from their neighbourhood warehouses within 10 minutes, even beating Amazon AMZN.O. These multi-billion-dollar quick commerce businesses, though loss-making, have disrupted sales of mom-and-pop stores and supermarkets as people opt for quick deliveries of everything from milk and chocolates to Apple AAPL.O iPhones.

The sector has become too hot, too fast for Ambani's Reliance RELI.NS to ignore, even though experts say its late entry will face challenges including a lack of small-scale warehouses and running the business from supermarkets focused on walk-in customers.

Datum Intelligence estimates quick commerce sales will hit $6 billion this year, up from just $100 million in 2020.

Reliance plans to leverage its 3,000 supermarkets in 1,150 cities for quick deliveries by deploying small teams operating from dedicated kiosks inside, according to three people familiar with its strategy and Reuters' visits to outlets near Mumbai, where the service was launched this month.

The sources provided previously unreported details of order volume targets, delivery plans and links to Reliance Retail's long-awaited IPO.

Reliance's bet is sparked by changing shopping trends. A recent Datum survey of 3,000 Indian quick commerce shoppers showed 36% had reduced shopping at supermarkets and 46% cut back purchases from mom-and-pop stores.

"Reliance is making an entry as quick commerce is already impacting modern retail and will also impact Reliance stores," said Satish Meena, an adviser at Datum.

Reliance is aiming for a 10-30 minute delivery window because it does not believe customers need orders within 10 minutes and the longer timeframe will help ensure the business is sustainable, said the first person.

Ambani wants to ensure quick commerce helps bolster its business ahead of an IPO of Reliance Retail, which was last year valued at $100 billion, has backers including KKR KKR.N, two of the sources said.

Reliance runs the biggest brick-and-mortar retailer in India's $600 billion grocery market, though it still plays catch-up with Amazon in e-commerce.

Reliance did not respond to Reuters' queries.

CHALLENGES

Reliance is betting a wider product portfolio at its supermarkets - some of which stock more than 10,000 items - will help distinguish its offering from smaller rivals, though it has decided not to add any new warehouses, the sources said.

Once expanded nationwide in coming months, Reliance expects quick commerce to help take daily orders on its JioMart app from around 200,000 now to roughly 500,000, said the second person.

Like he did with mobile data offerings, Ambani has a strong reputation of using cutthroat pricing to disrupt businesses he enters. But cracking quick commerce will not be easy.

Rahul Malhotra, a senior analyst at Bernstein, said quick commerce needs neighbourhood warehouses for fast deliveries under 10 minutes, so any large retailer will need to offer superior product selection and cheaper pricing to ensure customers are willing to wait for up to 30 minutes.

A former Reliance executive who declined to be named for fear of reprisal said many stores are multi-storied and items are located far from each other on shelves, making quick packaging difficult, a task further complicated by in-store crowds.

Inside two Reliance stores in Navi Mumbai, Reuters found distinct "Q-Commerce" areas have been created for stocking frequently ordered items such as noodles, dairy products and chocolates. Riders outside waited for app alerts to pick up orders.

Ajit Karande, a Reliance store manager, said an eight-member team had been tasked to "completely focus on quick commerce", adding "we need to bill and pack the items within 10 minutes."

Earlier visits to IPO-bound Swiggy's SWIG.NS Instamart and Zomato's ZOMT.NS Blinkit warehouses by Reuters showed workers there are mandated to pack orders in under two minutes.

'TOP RIDER', 'BOTTOM RIDER'

The rapid quick commerce growth appears to be hitting the supermarket business.

Reliance Retail, which does not break down its grocery, fashion, electronics and telecom revenue, in October reported its first quarterly revenue decline in at least three years - a 1.1% fall in July-September sales to $9 billion.

Zomato's Blinkit sales surged 122% to $730 million in that period and recorded average growth of 103% in the last six quarters, when Reliance Retail's average stood at 13%, Bernstein said. But Reliance has reported profits for years, while Blinkit remains loss-making.

While Reliance has not commented on quick commerce stress, its rival DMart AVEU.NS, which has 377 supermarkets, said this month it can "clearly see the impact of online grocery formats" on its big-city stores but has declined to compete in that area, leading several analysts to downgrade the stock.

Reliance's "Hyperlocal" grocery service has begun in a handful of Navi Mumbai and Bengaluru stores and will next be launched in cities like New Delhi and Chennai, a fourth source said, adding there was a plan to incentivise its delivery drivers with weekly bonuses to boost the business.

The company also plans to rope in quick delivery startup Dunzo, in which it holds a near 26% stake, to further beef up its delivery fleet, said a fifth source. Dunzo declined comment.

To lure customers and trump rivals, Ambani is using free delivery.

In Mumbai, customers can use Reliance's JioMart app to get a 40 rupees ($0.48) can of Coca-Cola delivered free. Rivals impose levies such as "small cart fee" and "high demand surge" of up to 65 rupees on such an order.

At the Reliance store in Belapur near Mumbai, riders are tracked by the minute. A whiteboard inside names "Top Picker" and "Top Rider" to acknowledge efficiency, and "Bottom Picker" and "Bottom Rider" for slow work.

A "customer order has to be delivered in 30 minutes," said Supriya Naik, a JioMart delivery executive.

"I need to run around a lot."

($1 = 84.0610 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dhwani Pandya and Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneshwar; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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Updates Oct. 28 story to recast throughout with details on IPO, background

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Indian food delivery giant Swiggy SWIG.NS will likely price its $1.35 billion domestic initial public offering, which opens next week, at 371-390 rupees per share ($4.41-$4.64), sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The IPO will open for subscription from Nov. 6 to Nov. 8, the company's red herring prospectus dated Monday showed. Anchor investors will bid for shares on Nov. 5.

Swiggy is expected to list its shares on Nov. 13.

The share sale will be the country's second-biggest stock offering this year, behind Hyundai Motor India's HYUN.NS $3.3 billion IPO earlier this month, which had seen subdued interest from retail investors.

The food and grocery delivery firm, which competes with listed rival Zomato ZOMT.NS, will sell new shares worth 44.99 billion rupees ($535.14 million), more than the 37.5 billion rupees originally planned.

Existing shareholders including Prosus and Tencent are selling a total of 175.1 million shares.

Swiggy has in recent weeks cut its internal valuation goal twice by a combined 25% due to volatility in the Indian stock markets. It was initially looking at a valuation of as much as $15 billion, but following those cuts, it is now targeting $11.3 billion.

Swiggy did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

India's benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI is now down more than 8% from record highs hit on Sept. 27 due to persistent foreign selling.

Despite recent jitters, India's IPO market has been buoyant, with around 270 companies raising $12.57 billion so far this year, well above the $7.4 billion raised in all of 2023, LSEG data showed.

($1 = 84.0720 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi, Urvi Dugar, Haripriya Suresh and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan)

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By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Indian food delivery giant Swiggy SWIG.NS has slashed its IPO valuation again, to $11.3 billion, 25% below the initial goal of $15 billion as market volatility and the lacklustre debut of Hyundai India weigh on sentiment, two sources said on Sunday.

BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will invest in the $1.4 billion IPO, which will be the country's second-biggest stock offering this year, the sources told Reuters.

Swiggy, Blackrock and CPPIB did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

Indian shares have fallen for four weeks in a row, the longest such losing run since August 2023, with the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI down more than 8% from record highs hit on Sept. 27, due to persistent foreign selling.

Hyundai India HYUN.NS shares fell 7.2% on their debut last week after retail investors gave a lukewarm reception amid concerns about a lofty valuation.

Swiggy, backed by SoftBank 9434.T and Prosus, was concerned to avoid a tepid response to its relatively large IPO, coming amid global uncertainty from the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, and decided to cut the valuation in consultation with investors, said one source, with direct knowledge of the company's plans.

Swiggy does not want a "bad IPO", this person said. Its last funding round, led by Invesco, valued it at $10.7 billion in 2022.

It competes with Zomato ZOMT.NS in India's online restaurant and cafe food deliveries sector, and both have made major bets on a boom in "quick-commerce," where groceries and other products are delivered in 10 minutes.

Despite recent jitters, India's IPO market has been buoyant, with around 270 companies raising $12.57 billion so far this year, well above the $7.4 billion raised in all of 2023.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by William Mallard)

(([email protected]; @adityakalra;))

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Indian food delivery giant Swiggy SWIG.NS is internally aiming for a company valuation of $12.5 billion-13.5 billion for its upcoming IPO, cutting its target by 10-16% due to market volatility, two people with direct knowledge said on Thursday.

Swiggy was earlier targeting a $15 billion valuation for its $1.4 billion November IPO which will be the country's second biggest stock offering this year, behind Hyundai India's HYUN.NS debut this week.

Recent market volatility and a correction in Indian stock markets have prompted Swiggy to consider a lower valuation, as it wants to ensure "a lot of value is left on the table" for investors who bid, said the first source with direct knowledge of the matter.

India's benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI is on course to log four straight weeks of losses, having dropped 7.15% from record high levels hit on Sept. 27, due to persistent foreign selling.

Hyundai India shares fell 7.2% on their market debut on Tuesday after retail investors gave a lukewarm reception amid concerns about a lofty valuation and an auto industry slowdown.

The two sources said Swiggy is expected to list on Nov. 13 on Mumbai bourses, and open the IPO for subscriptions in the week before that, though the date could change slightly.

Swiggy, which is backed by SoftBank 9984.T and Prosus PRX.AS, did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite recent jitters, India's IPO market has been buoyant with around 270 companies raising $12.57 billion this year already, eclipsing the $7.4 billion raised in all of 2023.

Swiggy plans to conduct roadshows for its stock offering in many Indian cities starting Oct. 30, said the second source.

Swiggy competes with Zomato ZOMT.NS in India's online restaurant and cafe food deliveries sector, and both have made major bets on the new so-called quick commerce boom where groceries and other products are being delivered in 10 minutes.

Swiggy's last funding round, led by Invesco in 2022, valued it at $10.7 billion.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Nandan Mandayam; Editing by Susan Fenton)

(([email protected]; @adityakalra;))

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Indian food and grocery delivery firm Zomato ZOMT.NS reported a smaller-than-expected rise in second-quarter profit on Tuesday as the company added more new stores, which weighed on margins.

Its consolidated net profit rose to 1.76 billion rupees ($20.94 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, from 360 million rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 2.70 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company also approved raising up to 85 billion rupees via the issue of a qualified institutional placement.

($1 = 84.0470 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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Repeats story filed on Oct. 20 without changes

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Oct 20 (Reuters) - India's biggest group of retail distributors has asked the antitrust authority to investigate three quick commerce companies - Zomato's ZOMT.NS Blinkit, Swiggy and Zepto - for alleged predatory pricing, a letter showed on Sunday.

Quick commerce is a new shopping rage in India, with companies promising deliveries of anything from groceries to electronics within 10 minutes, reshaping how Indians shop and challenging e-commerce giants such as Amazon AMZN.O.

In a letter dated Oct. 18, All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), which represents 400,000 retail distributors of major companies including Nestle NEST.NS and Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS, told the antitrust body quick commerce firms were practising predatory pricing - or offering deep discounts and selling below cost to lure customers.

Zomato's Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy, which runs the Instamart delivery service and is backed by SoftBank 9434.T, did not respond to Reuters queries.

The letter said several consumer goods companies were dealing directly with quick commerce firms to increase their reach, sidelining the traditional salespeople who for decades went from one shop to another to deliver orders.

Such practices make "it impossible for traditional retailers to compete or survive," said the letter, which is not public but was seen by Reuters.

"Implement protective measures for traditional distributors and small retailers to safeguard their interests," it urged the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

The CCI also did not respond to a query from Reuters and AICPDF declined to comment on its letter.

Annual sales on Indian quick commerce platforms are set to exceed $6 billion this year, with Blinkit having a nearly 40% market share, while Swiggy and Zepto around 30% each, research firm Datum Intelligence said.

The CCI has powers to initiate an investigation on its own if it find merit in complaints, a government official told Reuters on Sunday, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

The CCI's investigation unit in August found bigger e-commerce players, Amazon and Walmart's WMT.N Flipkart, breached local laws through predatory pricing, allegations the companies deny.

Reflecting the strength of the quick commerce sector, Zomato's shares have doubled this year and Swiggy will in the coming weeks will launch its over $1 billion IPO.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; editing by Barbara Lewis)

(([email protected]; @adityakalra;))

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Oct 20 (Reuters) - India's biggest group of retail distributors has asked the antitrust authority to investigate three quick commerce companies - Zomato's ZOMT.NS Blinkit, Swiggy and Zepto - for alleged predatory pricing, a letter showed on Sunday.

Quick commerce is a new shopping rage in India, with companies promising deliveries of anything from groceries to electronics within 10 minutes, reshaping how Indians shop and challenging e-commerce giants such as Amazon AMZN.O.

In a letter dated Oct. 18, All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), which represents 400,000 retail distributors of major companies including Nestle NEST.NS and Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS, told the antitrust body quick commerce firms were practising predatory pricing - or offering deep discounts and selling below cost to lure customers.

Zomato's Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy, which runs the Instamart delivery service and is backed by SoftBank 9434.T, did not respond to Reuters queries.

The letter said several consumer goods companies were dealing directly with quick commerce firms to increase their reach, sidelining the traditional salespeople who for decades went from one shop to another to deliver orders.

Such practices make "it impossible for traditional retailers to compete or survive," said the letter, which is not public but was seen by Reuters.

"Implement protective measures for traditional distributors and small retailers to safeguard their interests," it urged the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

The CCI also did not respond to a query from Reuters and AICPDF declined to comment on its letter.

Annual sales on Indian quick commerce platforms are set to exceed $6 billion this year, with Blinkit having a nearly 40% market share, while Swiggy and Zepto around 30% each, research firm Datum Intelligence said.

The CCI has powers to initiate an investigation on its own if it find merit in complaints, a government official told Reuters on Sunday, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

The CCI's investigation unit in August found bigger e-commerce players, Amazon and Walmart's WMT.N Flipkart, breached local laws through predatory pricing, allegations the companies deny.

Reflecting the strength of the quick commerce sector, Zomato's shares have doubled this year and Swiggy will in the coming weeks will launch its over $1 billion IPO.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; editing by Barbara Lewis)

(([email protected]; @adityakalra;))

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• TO CONSIDER RAISING OF FUNDS

• TO CONSIDER RAISING OF FUNDS VIA QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONS PLACEMENT

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE89QCxj

Further company coverage: ZOMT.NS

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Oct 11 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• GUNJAN TILAK RAJ RESIGNS AS INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE1hszC2

Further company coverage: ZOMT.NS

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